Homework

Completing homework can be a challenge for some students. Homework has value because it is practice. Your teachers are not assigning homework to you just because they think it is fun. They are trying to extend your learning to make sure you know and understand the concepts being covered in class. Being able to spend your time learning and fully understanding the material is worth the investment of your time and energy.

So let's talk for a second about those top reasons students often give about why they haven't been doing their work...

- I'll do it the next day... Saving your work to finish during academic prep or lunch sounds like a viable option, but if you have been saving your work for then and it isn't getting done then it is time to rethink your approach. Getting through the work rather than having it hang over your head will take away the pressure and allow you to feel the success of having your work completed.

- It really isn't that important... I get it - in some of your classes homework is weighted really low compared to other assignments or tests and so it doesn't always feel as if the work is worthwhile, but here is the reality - Every Point Matters! Especially if your grades aren't where you want them to be.  But think about it for a moment. If homework is worth 10% of your grade and you don't do it then you're already starting with a 90% in your class and the only way you could earn a 90% would be if you get a perfect score on every other assignment outside of your homework. And, let's be honest, if you aren't doing the homework to practice and develop a deeper understanding of the material, then it isn't realistic that you will be able to earn a perfect score on all of your other classwork and tests.

- You forgot about the work... time to get organized and keep a planner or use an app for tracking your assignments. Your head is the place to think - not the best place to try to keep track of all of your work that needs to be done. This is especially the case when you take into consideration all of the long-term assignments and projects which you have to keep track of throughout the year.

The reality is for some students you may be struggling with homework because you try, but aren't sure about what to do. If that describes you, then I need to stress the importance of doing the best that you can on what you know and then using your academic prep, lunch or before/ after school time to meet with your teacher or the academic assistants to ask questions to make sure you learn and understand the material. I actually see this struggle as a possible strength because if you are trying the assignments and are able to seek help to learn the specific compoentns that you weren't sure about then you will have a much richer understanding of the material than anyone who didn't even attempt the work in the first place.

I know homework can be frustrating. I know you have other things happening in your life that can make dedicating the time to complete work a challenge. But school is your job. You need to maximize your learning and take care of this responsibility by doing your homework on a regular basis so that you don't fall behind and then have to dig out of a hole. I am confident if you do, you will see the reward in your grade and most importantly in your learning and understanding of the material. 

**Just a reminder, this post is also being shared on the NEW WKHS Counselor blog. This blog site will no longer be active beyond 2025 so you can transition to receive all blog posts emailed directly to you by subscribing to the new blog site.**

FAFSA - For me?

Every year there are senior students or their families who question if they should actually fill out the FAFSA since they "know" that they will not qualify for need based aid. And the reality is if you are in that situation it is very tempting to just skip doing the FAFSA, but we would still strongly encourage you to complete it!

Why?

Because the colleges tell us there are lots of reasons that families should fill out the FAFSA no matter what. Here are a few of those reasons:

1. Some colleges award a FAFSA filing grant. (Grants are similar to scholarships in that you don't have to pay them back. So that is free money for filling out the FAFSA.)
2. There are scholarships that will only be considered after a student has completed the FAFSA in order for a student to be eligible for them.
3. Circumstances can change. Having a FAFSA on file allows for the financial aid offices to be able to help students pivot with a faster process if something bad happens such as a parent loses a job and can no longer cover the college costs as anticipated.
4. It allows for students/ families to have the option of taking out student loans if needed. (Which could be just because you don't have the money on hand to pay or because of those changed circumstances mentioned above in #2.)
5. Having a FAFSA on file signals to financial aid offices that the family is interested in aid (need or merit). That tells colleges that this is not a "cost doesn't matter at all" scenario.

The colleges have said repeatedly that they understand that there will be families who fill out the FAFSA and have a high SAI, but just because you never know what now or the future holds, they still recommend you fill it out and therefore, we also recommend you fill it out too.

**Just a reminder, this post is also being shared on the NEW WKHS Counselor blog. This blog site will no longer be active beyond 2025 so you can transition to receive all blog posts emailed directly to you by subscribing to the new blog site.**

UD Sinclair Academy

For some students, they know that they want to start at a 2 year college. But, at the same time, they also struggle because due to personal preference or home dynamics they really want to live in a college dorm. This combination is definitely not unique... but it is a challenge. Most 2-year colleges, like Columbus State, do not have dorms as an option.

When we were at the National Association of College Admissions Counselors conference earlier this fall we learned about a unique partnership between the University of Dayton and Sinclair Community College. Called the UD Sinclair Academy, the 2 colleges have partnered together to allow students who want to start at Sinclair Community College before eventually transferring to the University of Dayton to live in the dorms at the University of Dayton while attending Sinclair. Meaning that if the University of Dayton is a 4-year college you would love to attend, this partnership program may make the option of living in a dorm while attending Sinclair Community College a possibility. 

It is a cool opportunity and I loved learning about the efforts that these two colleges are taking to help meet an identified need for many students.

CSS Profile

Hopefully you are making good progress on your FAFSA, but I wanted to be sure to remind you that you need to look at your desired colleges closely to see what their financial aid requirements include.

At some of the more competitive colleges - particularly those who cover all of demonstrated need for students, in addition to requiring the FAFSA, many of those colleges will also require that students and families will submit the CSS profile.  The FAFSA helps colleges determine federal aid, but the CSS profile helps colleges determine institutional aid.  The CSS profile typically asks for a lot more detailed information from families than the FAFSA does.  And while the FAFSA is free to complete, there are fees associated with the CSS profile, but fee waivers are also offered.

Usually this is a topic students figure out as they are going through the whole financial aid application process and the CSS profile is just another step in that process, but we wanted to encourage you to double check if your intended colleges are requiring the CSS profile and to watch your deadlines closely so that you don't miss them.

Here is a link to an article about completing the CSS Profile.

As always, feel free to stop and see us if you have any questions about the CSS profile requirements.

OU Admission Promise

Saturday, November 15th is another key Early application deadline - in particular for Ohio University. I wanted to remind all seniors of the Ohio University Admission Promise. They have announced that all qualified fall 2026 first-year applicants with a cumulative 3.0 GPA in a strong college-prep curriculum will gain automatic general admission to Ohio University's Athens campus if they apply by the Early Application Deadline of November 15, 2025. Additionally, if OU receives a student's FAFSA results by January 15, 2026, then students will earn a renewable $2,000 OHIO Admission Promise Award.  

Talk about good incentives to apply by Saturday AND to submit your FAFSA before January 15th!

Want to learn more about the OU Admission Promise, check out their website.

Holiday Help

As we look ahead to the holiday season I realize that the needs in our community are great, so I wanted to make sure that you (or perhaps one of your friends) would be aware of some of the resources that could be available to help you.

School connected resources:

- One of the local churches, Worthington Presbyterian Church, is providing WKHS with all of the food for Thanksgiving meals so that we can distribute them to some of our families in need.  If you need help with a Thanksgiving meal, please contact me ASAP so that I can try to arrange for a meal for you.  We have a VERY limited supply available.

- Community Cares Backpack Program: a group of dedicated, compassionate, and incredibly thoughtful Worthington mom's do a variety of things to help our school community through the Activity Club.  One of those programs is to provide bags of food to give families a little extra in their family's food supplies. If this resource is something that would be helpful for you, please let me know so that I can add you onto the list for future backpacks.  

- WKHS Community Cares Closet: The Activity Club also stocks a closet of toiletries and other items that any WKHS family in need can access. There are a wide range of items available for you to take home with you including shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, soap, feminine hygeine products, lotion, deodorant, shaving cream, and more. The closet is located in the Counseling Center and I am happy to show you where it is so that you can take whatever supplies you need. Please note that if there are specific items you were searching for that might be out of stock when you stop by the community mom's are constantly refilling the closet and if you let me know what item you were hoping to access, I can make sure that they know it is currently out of stock and let you know once it has been added again. Parents, keep in mind that these basic toiletries can also be great for stocking stuffers too.

Community Food Resources:

- Worthington Resource Pantry: www.worthingtonresourcepantry.org   The Worthington Resource Pantry provides families in our community with food and other resources of support.  

-  Dublin Food Pantry: www.dublinfoodpantry.org     If you live in the 43016 zip code you could also utilize the Dublin Food Pantry.

- Smoky Row Food Pantry: https://www.smokyrow.org/pantry

-  Mid-Ohio Food Bank: Please check their website https://mofc.org/ or call 614-277-3663 for information about hours and services.

- Lutheran Social Services Food Pantry: https://smartchoice.life/cgi-bin/landing.cgi?cid=OeGbPq

-  Regular Monthly Meals:

     You may already know this because this resource is available year-round and is featured on the WKHS Counselor website, but several local churches provide meals to anyone in the community needing assistance.  This page highlights where and when these meals are available to families in need. 

I am fully aware that all needs are not just related to food/ toiletries.  

- For Kilbourne Specific clothes and/ or Jeans, we have the Kilbourne Kindness Closet. You can stop by and peruse the options of clothes as they can make a nice gift option during the holidays. These clothes are available in the Counseling Center.

-  Salvation Army:  Food and Toys

     Perhaps you have seen the red kettles that appear each year - these donations are used to help provide food and gifts for families in need.  Information about their Christmas assistance program is available here: https://easternusa.salvationarmy.org/southwest-ohio/central-ohio/cheer/  Specific details about required documentation are available on the Salvation Army's website. If you have questions after reviewing their website, you can contact them at 614-846-1884 ext. 10. 

As always, please stop by and talk to me if you are having problems this holiday season.  If you need food, clothing or just want to talk about some struggles you are having, my door is open for you.

And, on the flip side, if you are looking for opportunities to help someone in our community, please keep the following opportunities in mind:

- Our students will be conducting a "Holiday Compassion Project" campaign where they will be providing gifts for many Worthington elementary school students so you can make donations through and with your kids.  

- A 501(c)3 organization, Worthington Connects, have committed to adopting some Worthington families for the holidays and they are seeking volunteers to help provide for those needs.  

- We are always taking donations of gently used Kilbourne Clothes for the Kilbourne Kindness Closet. Clothing donations can be dropped off to the Counseling Center during regular school hours.

- And finally, the Activity Club helps to provide many opportunities for our families and they are always accepting donations.

Searching for Scholarships Lunch & Learn

Parents of seniors, are you worrying about paying for your son/ daughter's college education? If you answered yes, you're definitely not alone! The Kilbourne Counselors will be hosting the November Lunch & Learn at noon this Friday (November 14th) to talk about searching for scholarships.

We know that the scholarship search process can feel daunting and that some students and families don't even know where to start so our hope is that this short, focused 30 minutes of time together will allow you to get a jump-start on the scholarship search process.

As always, the Lunch & Learn series will be held from 12-12:30 over zoom for interested families to be able to grab their lunch and eat while we talk about that month's topic. The zoom link will be emailed home to parents and posted on the Counselor website on Friday morning.

We look forward to seeing parents online on Friday!